


Fair Weather Friends

by M1dn1ght_Star



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Is Not an Idiot, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Knows Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is Ladybug, Cat Miraculous, Cat Puns, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Identity Reveal, Kind of misuse of miraculous maybe, Ladybug Miraculous, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi Lies, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Lucky Charm And Miraculous Ladybugs Cure | Ladybug Miraculous Superpowers, Manipulative Lila Rossi, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Knows Adrien Agreste Is Chat Noir, Mentioned infidelity not between main chars, Miraculous Team, My way of screaming in excitement for season 4, New Miraculous Holders, New superhero outfits, No Romance, Original art design of the Paris Watch logo, Paris (City), Snake Miraculous, The Ladyblog, Toxic Friendships, Turtle Miraculous, Unhealthy Relationships, akuma battles, akumatization, classmate salt, for sort of selfish reasons?, mostly - Freeform, not Adrien and Chloe isn't really either, slight angst, which are promptly gotten out of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-27 09:47:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30120894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M1dn1ght_Star/pseuds/M1dn1ght_Star
Summary: Marinette had been shocked when all of her classmates who she had thought to be her friends took all of a few weeks to start following the Italian around, hanging on her every word about the famous people she’d met and cool things she’d done. She wondered where the confidence that had filled her when Lila confronted her had gone. Though, there was a sudden wealth of free time that had appeared when her friends had left, leaving her to question a few things. Sure, when she was the class president that took up some time, but not that much…
Comments: 13
Kudos: 173





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I had this idea sitting around for a while and finally wrote it! Woohoo me

Walking down the street behind a pair of tourists, Marinette let out a tired sigh as she adjusted her backpack strap on her shoulder. She wasn’t looking forward to class yet again, relegated to the back next to an unusually quiet Chloe who had yet to make any remarks on the situation, though perhaps that was in part due to Sabrina abandoning her for Lila.

Marinette had been shocked when all of her classmates who she had thought to be her friends took all of a few weeks to start following the Italian around, hanging on her every word about the famous people she’d met and cool things she’d done. She wondered where the confidence that had filled her when Lila confronted her had gone. Though, there was a sudden wealth of free time that had appeared when her friends had left, leaving her to question a few things. Sure, when she was the class president that took up some time, but not that much and she didn’t have to worry about that either because Mme. Bustier had given the position to Lila as well.

The light changed on the crosswalk and Marinette hurried across, glancing for a moment at the spot where she’d met Master Fu for the first time. The new hours of free time she had definitely came in handy for finishing homework and responding to akumas more quickly and it was only now that she wasn’t constantly bogged down with piles of responsibilities that she realized just how much her classmates had been taking advantage of her kindness. It also left her time to sit quietly in the park with Adrien on the few occasions he could escape his father’s strict schedule or the claws of Lila. The poor boy had confided that his father had threatened him with pulling him out of school if he didn’t keep her happy and was the only classmate other than, oddly enough, Chloe, who didn’t harass her these days.

Brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, Marinette felt a sardonic smile appear on her face. They had all left her for Lila thinking they could get better things than the free food and clothes Marinette had provided, but unfortunately for them the only thing they would get is disappointment and maybe a lawsuit or two if the liar kept on the way she had been recently. The Ladyblog was more tabloid than anything these days and it was probably time for Ladybug to find a new place to share such things. LB Log had a certain ring to it.

After school, Marinette met up with Luka, Kagami, and Adrien in her parents’ bakery, with the latter two having snuck out of fencing practice to come. She had decided that as the new guardian, the identity rule was causing more harm than helping, and so planned to reveal her identity to them and offer Adrien a temporary miraculous. Ladybug and Chat Noir needed a support system and especially since the temporary heroes were all retired for both identity and trust reasons, these were the best she could think of. Kagami and Luka would receive different miraculouses if possible and otherwise redesign their hero selves to throw off Hawkmoth.

Bringing the three up to her room, Marinette took a deep breath as she closed the door and checked to make sure no one was outside her room on the balcony. She’d been hoping she might spot Chat Noir, but she’d have to fill him in later and apologize for making such a big decision without him present. She had a feeling he wouldn’t be too upset about revealing their identities for some reason.

Turning to face the confused and curious trio, Marinette said, “I have thought about this for a long time and decided it was best to reveal something to you. Please know you cannot tell anyone, not even your families.”

With that, she said two words that made everyone’s eyes go wide. She was fairly sure Luka already knew because of his role as the rewinder during fights, but he was still startled. “Tikki, spots on!” She cried, feeling the familiar magic rush over her as her mask covered her face and red and black covered her body.

Adrien stood there motionless for a moment before practically screaming, “My lady?” which caused Marinette to turn her head towards him so fast she almost got whiplash. “Chaton? What are the odds...” She said, laughing.

“Plagg, claws out!” Adrien cried and he soon joined Ladybug in costume. Kagami’s mouth was hanging open and Luka seemed amused from where he was leaning against her desk.

“Err, well, now you all know.” Marinette said, snorting as she realized she didn’t need to go find Chat after all. “I am the Guardian of the Miraculous. Luka, Kagami, I would like you to place your hand on this.” She retrieved the red and black spotted box, which was thankfully no longer shaped like an egg, from where it was temporarily tucked in the back of her closet. “I hope you would not be opposed to becoming permanent members of the team?” She received two head shakes in response.

They did as she said and Marinette squinted, concentrating as she felt for the energy. Several felt right for Kagami but only the Snake resonated with Luka. A suit redesign for him, then. Gesturing for them to let go, Marinette opened the box and took out the Snake miraculous, handing it to Luka who greeted a sleepy looking Sass. She let her fingers drift towards the ones that felt right for Kagami and retrieved the Dragon, the Turtle, and the Tiger.

Placing them down on the desk, Ladybug nodded to the three kwamis who emerged, watching Longg, Wayzz, and Roaar fly over to hover in front of Kagami. Long landed on Kagami’s shoulder and said, “You’ve grown. I greatly enjoyed our time together but you are ready to move on. I wouldn’t be the best fit.” The kwami bowed towards her, which she returned with a sad smile, before phasing back into the box. Marinette tucked the Dragon miraculous back in its place and watched Wayzz and Roaar. 

Kagami nodded to something Roaar said and the tiger waved goodbye, leaving Wayzz and the shell bracelet. Marinette had had a feeling this might be the result, having seen as Kagami fiercely defended her and the others. She was a warrior, but also a protector, and her outfit would likely reflect this.

Ladybug nodded and said, “Alright, you need to think of a new outfit while transforming as your old hero identity was compromised, Luka. You know the phrase, Kagami?” She looked at the new turtle hero, who nodded and pointed to Wayzz.

“Shell on! Scales slither!” Luka and Kagami said at the same time, triggering the glowing light to wash over them and transform them into their hero selves. Marinette watched fascinated, as Luka’s old suit melted into black pants and a lighter blue long sleeved shirt with attached gloves which had a hint of purple in it. A scale pattern made its way down the outside of his arms and a strip of scale patterning was also visible around his waist like a belt. The mask stayed mostly the same but the colors inverted. His hair lengthened and became tied back in a short ponytail. The lyre was also gone, replaced by a crossbow-guitar hybrid, while the bracelet remained.

She looked over to where Kagami was standing and her inner designer screamed in delight. Plated dark green armor covered her torso, blending into a black tactical belt and then a green skirt and black leggings combo. Heeled dark green boots climbed up her legs, ending at the knee. Her mask was green with a black hexagon design and in her left hand was a metal-capped black staff, while her right hand held a round shield with an identical pattern to her mask. Her dark hair was gone, replaced by a pastel green shade and pulled back into a tight bun.

Chat Noir, who had mostly been silent up to now, grinned and moved to stand next to Luka, asking, “Any ideas for a new name? I can help you out if you need, I’m puretty good at it if I do say so myself.” Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly at the pun, also interested in what the new heroes would be called.

Thinking for a moment, Luka said, “How about Adder?” He was met by approving nods from everyone and so Adder the Snake hero was born. Kagami took longer, but eventually decided on Helmine, which was a name meaning resolute protector.

With identities finished, Ladybug cleared her throat and said, “I think I speak for everyone when I say that the Ladyblog has become no longer reliable for akuma related things. My idea was to create a new one and have the heroes officially endorse it.”

Adrien nodded thoughtfully. “What would we call it?” He asked, making Marinette think of the name she’d idly come up with earlier and then frown at how it seemed self-centered, as she wasn’t the only hero. It was already a bit upsetting that the Ladyblog tended to overly focus on her, so if the heroes made a site, they needed to come up with something inclusive.

“Pound it?” She offered hesitantly. “Or maybe Paris something.”

Kagami’s eyes lit up at the mention of Paris. “Ooh, I know, what about Paris Patrol, no Paris Watch?”

“Paris Patrol. Sounds like some kids show.” Chat Noir said with a snort. “I love it!”

“I vote for Paris Watch personally.” Luka said, smiling. The three turned to ask Marinette for her opinion, only to find her scribbling frantically on a piece of paper. 

Glancing over her shoulder, they saw a circle split into four sections, one with polka dots, one with a paw print, one with a shell, and one with a snake fang. Underneath was various words that seemed to be a plan for the site. As they watched, Marinette added Paris Watch to the logo, one word above and one below.

“Hah, take that!” Kagami said to Chat Noir, who was pouting. He stuck his tongue out in response.

Ladybug finished dividing up the site into sections and then enlisted the help of Adrien, who turned out to be very good at coding, to actually make the website. It took several hours and a large plate of cookies delivered by Marinette’s father to the room of teenagers who had detransformed a long time ago. It took a lot of effort, but the end result looked fantastic, with a section to report butterfly sightings as well as actual akumas, another for messages from the heroes, who all had a separate account with their logo symbol to differentiate between who was posting, and finally a section on meditation and calming techniques in an effort to potentially mitigate some of the akumas and emotional chaos. They also added a picture of the team for a header to prove its authenticity, having crossed the rooftops to an unidentifiable wall to take it.

The next day at school, Marinette couldn’t resist a shared grin with her kitty when Alya stormed into class, upset about the new blog that was ‘stealing’ all her viewers. Lila promptly said that she’d tried to convince her hero bestie not to do so, but that Ladybug was being selfish and rude these days, adding some fake tears to sell the story. She also tried to blame it on Chat, unaware that the civilian form of said hero was sitting right behind her trying not to either laugh or shout, going by his pained expression. And to think they still wouldn’t know each other's identities if her classmates were still pretending to be her friends.


	2. Design for Paris Watch logo




	3. Chapter 2

It was a sunny afternoon and Marinette had just settled down at her desk in her room to start writing an outline for her essay. She got all of two sentences of the introduction done before several loud beeps alerted her that the Paris Watch site had multiple reports of an akuma. 

Leaping out of her chair, she quickly scanned the posts and saw the akuma seemed to be forcing people to reveal secrets by touching them. Marinette gave an almost longing glance at her homework before transforming and leaping off across the rooftops, quickly joined by Adder who had been in the park nearby.

Following the sound of screaming and shouting, the two heroes found the akuma chasing after a middle aged woman with their hands outstretched. They appeared to be male and were dressed in a wince-worthy combination of an electric green and yellow formal suit. They had a matching hat on their head, except it also was longer in the front and covered most of their face with only glowing red eyes visible from the unnaturally dark shadow.

Chat Noir finally arrived and perched on a streetlight nearby, calling down, “Hey, that’s not very nice, Glowy.”

The akuma looked up and clenched their fists angrily. “My name is Guilty Conscience, not Glowy. You’re just as bad as everyone else, I’ll make sure you share your secrets before getting your Miraculous!”

They made a lunge for Chat Noir, jumping higher than would be possible without the akuma and barely missing the cat hero’s foot as he leaped backwards, landing next to Helmine. The turtle hero had joined Ladybug and Adder and was holding their staff in a defensive position, using it to bat away Guilty Conscience when they tried to chase them onto the roof.

Adder snorted as Chat called tauntingly over his shoulder, “Not furry fast, are you?” as they led the akuma towards the now-empty park.

“That was pushing it.” Ladybug replied, shaking her head in feigned disgust as she swung across a gap between two buildings and tumbled to a landing on the roof. The others followed her, with Helmine stumbling and almost falling as they moved to avoid Guilty Conscience’s lunge.

The akuma disappeared suddenly just as they reached the park and the heroes looked around, trying to figure out where they’d gone. Only spotting trees and grass, Ladybug frowned, wondering if they’d lost interest in the heroes for the time being to try and get revenge on more civilians. 

Suddenly, Chat shoved her out of the way as Guilty Conscience appeared out of nowhere from above them, trying to grab ladybugs shoulder. Unfortunately, he didn’t quite move out of the way in time and his wrist was touched. The heroes’ eyes all widened as Chat opened his mouth, only for Adder to quickly cover his mouth before he could say anything, receiving a grateful look from Chat Noir in return.

Ladybug and Helmine were busy fending off Guilty Conscience and trying to figure out where the akuma was, not having much luck with the latter by the looks of it. Helmine blocked their hands with the staff and tried to kick their feet out from under them, causing them to trip backwards. 

Ladybug shifted back and threw her yo-yo upwards, yelling, “Lucky charm!” There was a burst of red light and then a small bottle of something fell into her hands. Examining, she saw it was a container of superglue and looked around trying to figure out what to do with it.

Meanwhile, Adder had lost his grip on Chat and was shooting crossbow bolts at Guilty Conscience trying to prevent them from touching Helmine. The cat hero couldn’t stop himself from talking any longer and everyone turned towards him, the akuma eagerly and everyone else in horror.

Chat looked at the akuma and said loudly, “I stole an eraser from one of my friends today. I don’t actually like ketchup. My-” He continued spouting minor secrets while the other heroes slumped in relief and Guilty Conscience scowled angrily.

“You’ll run out of such stupid secrets soon and then we’ll know what you really have done.” They yelled, making another attempt to hit Helmine and being blocked by her staff.

Across the park, Ladybug had finally figured out what to do with the lucky charm. “Adder, Helmine, knock them down by that bench!” She yelled, pointing to the bench in question behind Guilty Conscience. It would’ve been better not to let the akuma know the plan, but there wasn’t a way around it.

Adder got in a good shot with the crossbow, hitting Guilty Conscience in the thigh. They cried out in pain and clutched the area, leaving them open for Helmine to whack them across the torso with her staff, sending them flying backwards to slam into the bench. Ladybug ran over and quickly covered their arms and legs in superglue, attaching them to the bench.

Their fall had revealed a ring on a chain around their neck, which had swung out from under their shirt as they hit the ground. Chat Noir, whose mouth had been covered again by Adder, joined Helmine as Ladybug snatched up the ring and extended it in Chat’s direction, unable to easily break the metal object.

A quick Cataclysm later, Ladybug swung her yoyo and caught the inky butterfly expertly, releasing the purified butterfly with her customary, “Bye bye, little butterfly.” Chat slumped slightly in relief as they were freed from the compulsion to share their secrets, letting the red lights wash over them as all the damage was fixed by Ladybug. 

The akuma de-transformed, revealing a young gentleman who looked as though he’d been crying. He was wearing a traditional suit and tie and clutching at the ring around his neck. The team exchanged a look before bumping fists, with Helmine and Chat immediately jumping away to return to their schedules before they’d be missed. Ladybug nodded gratefully to Adder, who would do his best to comfort the victim, and left as well

Adder listened sympathetically to the man, who talked about how he had found out that his partner was lying to him and cheating with a co-worker. The ring was a promise ring that they both had and the devastated man had wanted to reveal other people’s secrets. Eventually, Adder helped them figure out where they were going to go and watched them leave the park before finding a safe spot to detransform.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lila gets taken down because Luka is good at justifying use of miraculi? miraculouses? idk what is the correct one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so, enjoy and let me know what you think :)
> 
> Also, a friendly letter to a special Lila roleplayer just in case they make an appearance:  
> Please don’t interrupt me while I’m ignoring you. You are vaguely amusing sometimes but usually you're just like an annoying pimple that won't go away.
> 
> Lots of love <3
> 
> Midnight

The new hero team worked together like a well-oiled machine, trusting one another to support and help them in akuma battles. They were effective and skilled during fights, thanks to being able to meet up and practice together in their civilian identities. Adder’s power remained the same as before and wasn’t often needed, instead working as a lookout and planner with Ladybug while Helmine and Chat tended to go more on the offensive. 

Helmine’s defensive power was “Sanctuary” and was used twice so far, creating a bubble shield protection around one person who could choose to let others enter. On the first occasion, only the civilian that the akuma was after needed the shield, but the second time all of the heroes had taken refuge in it. A temporary hero was needed exactly five times over the next month, and Ladybug had looked at the mini parasol her Lucky Charm had given her in confusion before lighting up in comprehension and dashing quickly to retrieve the Fox miraculous and ask Aurore to assist them for the battle.

In class, Alya was upset about being replaced and liked to completely ignore the fact that her identity had been compromised, whining about it to the classmates, several of whom were also hurt and angry they could no longer help Ladybug. Apart from the other ‘new’ members of the team who Lila worked to direct them towards, their main target was Chloe, as the one who had revealed them. Personally, while Marinette was disappointed, she didn’t ignore the fact that Chloe had been akumatized and as such didn’t blame her for everything.

One such morning, Adrien tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited nervously for the morning’s plan to start. Marinette was missing, not really noticed by the rest of the class who were all clustered around Lila and listening to some story about her vacation over the weekend. It was probably misuse of their miraculous, but Luka had stated Lila was a threat to the team as well with her harassment of Adrien and Marinette and that the risk of them being akumatized was worth it.

As such, Ladybug had subtly inspired Madame Bustier with offhand comments about sharing safety tips with civilians and pretended that it was the teacher’s idea to have her visit the classroom that morning to give a talk. Hopefully, the classmates would be too eager to talk to Lila’s ‘bestie’ and back her into a corner talking about how it's so cool that her ‘best friend’ came to visit, allowing Ladybug to act confused and say she doesn’t have a best friend.

The look on Lila’s face when a smiling heroine entered the classroom was priceless and Adrien couldn’t resist taking a discreet picture to share with the rest of the team later. She pasted a falsely pleasant expression on and winked obviously as if sharing a secret with the class. Adrien leaned forward in his seat, eager to get a good view. 

Alya gave them an opportunity right away, bouncing up to Ladybug and shoving her phone towards her face, asking about the new heroes. Ladybug calmly responded with a general, “They are here to help just as Chat and I are. It is nice to have some others to trust during fights.”

Predictably, Alya swelled up with anger at this statement, and blurted out, “I can’t believe you trust  _ them. _ Ignoring your bestie is not cool.”

“I’m sorry? I don’t have a best friend…” Ladybug said clearly, causing uncertain looks to be passed between classmates. No matter how much they were Lila’s ‘friends’ these days, Ladybug was the hero of Paris and was known to hate liars, so she wouldn’t lie to them about this. That meant Lila had been the one lying. Her stories about Ladybug had been so convincing though. What else had she lied about?

Lila, from her seat in the front, was turning progressively more red in a way that clashed horribly with her sausage hair. Her fists were clenched and she tried to look unconcerned but could feel the way the class was losing trust in her. The sound of wings made her look up and a dark smile spread across her face as she reached out to grab the butterfly, triggering gasps from those watching.

There was a loud smack and Lila yanked her sore hand back, clutching it as the pain brought tears to her eyes. Ladybug released the now white butterfly from her yo-yo out the window and stared Lila down with a disappointed look.

“Akumas are never the answer, no matter what.” She said, before apologizing to Ms. Bustier and launching into the speech she’d prepared about akuma prevention. Thankfully, most of the class seemed to be paying attention, despite their obvious distraction in the form of Lila glaring at the floor with her arms crossed. Chloe was also looking down, but it seemed to be out of shame rather than anger.

Ladybug made a point to politely say goodbye to everyone, even Lila, before waving as she swung out the window and found a sheltered place on the roof to wait for a while to make sure another akuma wasn’t coming to the school before returning home and slipping into her bathroom where she feigned having a stomach bug every time her parents came to check on her and spent the rest of her time messaging the other heroes and working on school assignments.

When Marinette returned to class the next day, apologizing for her absence and collecting the missed work from Ms. Bustier, she found Lila nowhere to be seen, and a large group of former friends all greeting her with desperate smiles. They were all acting as though they hadn’t abandoned her to cling onto Lila’s false promises and even harassed her. Alya had the audacity to try and get her to sit next to her, where Lila had taken her seat at the beginning of the year.

Giving them incredulous and confused looks, as she wasn’t supposed to know what had happened, Marinette made a beeline for where Adrien was sitting and asked loudly, “What’s going on?”

Adrien put his acting skills to good use and replied, “Yesterday, Ladybug visited to tell us about akuma prevention methods. It’s a shame you missed it. But, we also found out that Lila had been lying to us about being her best friend!” He said this last part with a gasping shock and both had to resist the urge to burst out laughing as they locked eyes. 

Biting her lip hard in order to prevent her laughter, Marinette responded. “Oh! Well, that’s good… Now they won’t be taken advantage of by Lila anymore. Where is she anyways?”

Ms. Bustier, who was standing at the front of the classroom, heard her and said, “Lila has transferred schools.” causing everyone to look at her with wide eyes.

“I just hope she won’t do this again, but I suppose that would be too much to ask for.” Marinette muttered under her breath, causing Adrien to snort and say back quietly, “True. Should we find out where she went and warn them or is that too far?”

“Umm, probably not too far? The heroes could make a stop there one day and ‘accidentally’ spot Lila, asking if she’s been working to be a better person these days and stopped lying?” Marinette suggested after a moment.

Adrien nodded and Marinette sat down next to him, ignoring Nino who usually sat there and now looked at them for a moment before seeing Alya looking at him and moving to sit with his girlfriend instead. The pair spent the entire day mostly keeping to themselves and at lunch ate with Marc, Nathaniel, Aurore, Kagami, and Luka, the latter two of whom had arranged to be able to visit as a method of celebration. After a few attempts to get back in Marinette’s good graces, the class finally seemed to get the message and spent the rest of the day frowning unhappily.


End file.
